Bravery in Small Packages
by KitaiYao
Summary: I'm going to change the name of this x x  Ivan is going to take care of Yao and makes sure he graduates after all these years of taking the beatings for his siblings.  PLEASE  If you have a suggestion for a new name, I'll be more than happy to take them.
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE- 2003

The Chinese teen rounded the corner to see a tall blonde picking up his younger Korean cousin by the collar. The Chinese stopped, and pretended to accidentally run into the Frenchman, who turned around, dropped the Korean and pinned the Chinese to the wall. The Korean ran down the halls, with no words and no hesitation.

CHAPTER 1- 2010

Ivan Braginski stepped into the halls of the school he'd transferred to to finish his senior year. He headed to his first hour, not wanting to be late. He took a seat near the back and waited patiently for class to start. Soon he was joined at the table by a small teen with long dark hair tied back in a low ponytail. He turned to his left toward the kid.

The Asian jumped and shrank back, making eye contact with just his hands. Ivan saw that he had a very scarred face, especially for someone seeming so young…

"Hi~! I'm Ivan Braginski, nice to meet you!" he tried, holding a hand out to him.

The smaller student looked up at him, wide-eyed, then down at the hand, which he shakily reached out and took. Ivan himself almost jumped at how fragile the handshake was.

"I…I'm Wang Yao, aru…"

"So what grade are you in?"

Yao made a pained expression. "I'm a senior."

"Me too! Are you excited to be at the top of the food chain this year?"

"N-Not reall—"

"'Kid's a senior, alright—for the third year in a row!" a kid behind him crowed.

Yao looked down, sort of ashamed.

Ivan reached out to pat Yao on the back. "It's alright, da?"

Near the end of first hour, Yao was assigned to show Ivan around the school.

"Yao, you're going to give Ivan a tour of the school, help him find his classes. You should know it well enough," the teacher scoffed.

Yao nodded, stood up, bowed slightly, and turned to Ivan, who began walking out of the classroom.

As soon as they were out the door, Yao stopped Ivan in his tracks, peeked around the corner, and saw there was no one there.

"We're safe, aru."

Ivan wasn't quite sure what Yao meant by that, but followed the Chinese teen down the halls.

"Do you have your schedule with you?" Yao asked.

Ivan nodded.

"What's your second hour, aru?"

"Let's see…Oh, da! Creative Writing II!"

"Ai ya! Shh!" Yao hissed, wide eyes shifting.

"Ah…I'm sorry…" Ivan replied, following Yao's gazed, still confused.

Yao padded quietly around the next corner, his small feet soundless on the tile.

_ He just looks so scared—_

Suddenly a yelp sounded and Ivan bolted around the corner.

Yao was being pinned against the wall by his neck, a fairly tall albino student standing over him, but he wasn't really struggling. He was red-faced and his eyes were streaming but his arms hung limp.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ivan yelled, slamming a large hand on the bully's shoulder and shoving him backwards, and ran to catch Yao before he hit the floor.

Ivan rand down the hall, into the nearest bathroom, and sat Yao on the sink so he could catch his breath.

"Are you okay? What—Who was that?"

"…He's…Gilbert Bielschmidt…aru…"

Yao quickly wiped his eyes with his extra long sleeve. He looked down, almost guiltily. Ivan thought for a moment.

"Okay…Something's going on here. What's wrong?"

Yao looked up. He seemed puzzled, then sighed a bit of defeat.

_ It's best just to tell him. He could really…hurt me, aru. _

But maybe he wouldn't.

"U-Um…well…When I was a freshman I got…bothered… a lot, aru...and I've had many brothers and sisters that went here…and I didn't want them to go through what I did…so I stayed behind. I don't have any other siblings so I…I have to try to graduate this year, aru."

"So…you…acted as the target instead of letting your siblings be bullied…wow… You're a very kind person, da…How are your siblings now?"

". . . I …don't know. They never spoke to me after they all graduated, aru," Yao replied, a sorrowful expression on his face.

Ivan was in a silent rage for his classmate. How could someone be so ungrateful for someone who literally took the hits for them?

He smiled, turned around, and crouched down in front of Yao, facing away from him.

"Get on."

"What?"

"Get on. I'm giving you a piggyback ride."


	2. Chapter 2

"And~ up, da!" Ivan stood up and Yao yelped of surprise. Ivan smiled. "It's alright, just hang on tight!"

Yao wasn't sure what it was about this but being up off the ground and behind somebody who was, a) much larger than he was, and b) had defended him once today, made him feel quite a bit safer. He wrapped his arms over the Russian's shoulders and as the bell rang they headed out of the bathroom.

The instant they stepped into the sea of teenagers, Yao couldn't help but shut his eyes tight and hide his face behind the back of Ivan's neck—or rather, his scarf. He opened one eye, hoping he wasn't being stared at.

Instead, he found that his peers weren't bumping into him, or if they did, they were very quick in apologizing. As tall as Ivan was, Yao really couldn't blame them.

"…We both have the same second hour, aru. So…You can turn here and it's the second door on the left, aru," Yao instructed, pointing.

When they got into the classroom, Ivan stopped and looked around.

"Can we choose our seats in here?"

Yao nodded. Ivan strode over to the front corner nearest the wall and sat Yao gently down on that desk, seating himself directly behind him. This way, he could watch over Yao and only have, most likely, one person, the person to the left of Yao to deal with. And, if he had to, he could always break out his pipe. Slightly bloodstained, but it would do the trick. Being from a Russian crime city had its perks.

Thus, one could say, Ivan contracted the urge to take care of the forced-into-being-timid Asian teen. He couldn't help it. Even if he could, he really didn't think he would. Being able to help someone and not doing it would just be wrong.

Yao sat quietly in his seat, resting his head on his palm and his elbow on the desk. He turned back to Ivan.

"I-I-I really…can't thank you enough for that, aru."

Ivan knew he meant every word he said. "It's nothing~! And, Yao is fun to carry around! It's easy, da!"

Yao blushed a bit, his marred face becoming bright red. "If…If I can do anything for you, just let me know. Please."

Ivan smiled. "If I think of anything, I'll let you know. But I might not ever think of anything. It's not like you owe me anything!"

Yao nodded acceptingly.

Ivan reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out his cellphone.

"Do you have a cellphone?"

"Um…No…I'm not good with electronics, aru." Yao stammered.

"Ah, well then. My parents got me one so they could keep in touch. I liked it at first, but my large hands don't do well with the small buttons," Ivan said with a chuckle.

Yao looked at the Russian's gloved hands, mentally comparing them to his own tiny ones and sighing slightly.

"You alright?"

Yao jumped. "Uh—yeah, I'm fine, aru. Just…thinking, I guess."

"What about?"

Yao stared, silent, unsure how to answer.

"It's fine, da. You don't have to answer."

Yao nodded.

Nobody bothered Yao that class period.


	3. Chapter 3

Second hour ended and it was time for Ivan and Yao to compare schedules once again.

"You've got Sociology, aru. I have Ceramics II. The art wing is downstairs. So I guess I'll see you later, aru," Yao said, standing up with his backpack over his shoulder.

"I can see you being good at pottery," Ivan said with a smile.

It was true, he thought. With his small hands Yao could easily shape the clay right and make something interesting.

Yao blinked, a slight smile finding its way onto his face. "W-Well…I had to take something. When you have an extra three years of school, electives start running out, aru…"

"Da," Ivan agreed, patting Yao on the back. He flinched and Ivan almost pulled his hand away, but he really wanted to assure Yao that he wasn't going to harm him.

They parted ways at the stairs, Yao giving Ivan directions and Ivan worrying about Yao's next class.

They didn't see each other again until 5th hour where they had lunch together.

"Privyet!" Ivan said cheerfully as he sat down next to Yao.

"Ah—Ni hao, shen ti hao ma? ["_how are you?_" essentially]"

"I've been good, you?" Ivan responded, pulling out his container of soup.

"I'm well…" Yao took a bite of his fried rice.

"That's good~."

They ate in friendly silence for a while until the bell rang.

"Where do you go after fifth hour, aru?" Yao asked.

"Uh, World History, room 702."

"Hm… After that?"

"Study hall."

"Then we have our last class together then, aru," Yao supplied.

"I can't wait~!" Ivan said with a smile.

Seventh hour arrived and Ivan was in the study hall room, and sat next to Yao, who looked out of breath.

"Are you alright?" Ivan asked, confused.

Yao nodded. "…I ran here, aru," his response.

" . . . Can I ask why?"

Yao just looked like he really didn't want to answer.

"You don't have to." Ivan smiled.

Yao sighed of relief and lay his head down on the desk.

"Do you think, maybe…that I could walk you home?"

Yao thought for a moment, a bit shocked.

"W-Walk me home, aru?"

"Da," Ivan replied with a nod.

"…I-I guess that would be alright, aru…"

"Yay!"

"…Can I give you another piggy back ride?"

"Uh, sure, aru…"

Ivan smiled and knelt down in front of Yao, who climbed on, Ivan's hands under his knees.

Ivan happily left the schoolyard and followed Yao's directions to his home, an apartment in a complex a few streets over from Ivan's house.

Yao hopped down from Ivan's back. "Xiexie, aru," he thanked with a smile.

"It's my pleasure."

"W-Would you like to come in, aru?" Yao paused for a moment after he asked that. It'd been so long since he'd ever even thought about saying it to anyone that it felt rather strange to ask it now.

"Sure!"

Yao's smile grew a bit before turning toward the house, leading him up to his apartment and opening the door, letting Ivan in before him.

Ivan looked around in awe. He knew the place was not very large, but things were so neat and in place that it looked much bigger than he'd thought. Paintings of scenery and calligraphy were everywhere. The images depicted in them were foreign but the air of the house just screamed to him that this was someone's home.

"It's not a lot, but this is it, aru."

"I like it~!" Ivan called, admiring the wall hangings.

"Are you hungry?" Yao asked. "I can cook something, aru."

"Uhh…Nyet, I'm fine."

"Alright."

"…Did you paint these?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, I did, aru." Ivan looked down at him, noticing a bit of a blush dusting his face. He hesitantly placed a hand on Yao's shoulder, making him jump again, but nothing more.

"They're very nice, Yao. I like them."

"You do?"

Ivan nodded.

Yao seemed to ponder this for a few moments as he and Ivan walked around the living/dining room.

After a bit, Ivan noticed the clock, which said 3:35.

"Ah! I'm really sorry, but I have to get going!"

"Okay, it's alright." Yao led Ivan to the door. Ivan started out, but turned around, stepped back in, and pulled Yao into a tight hug, and was off.

"Bye~!"

Yao stood, confused, but not displeased, as he waved.


End file.
